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General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> cross country trip
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Message started by chriss on 05/01/06 at 03:15:15

Title: cross country trip
Post by chriss on 05/01/06 at 03:15:15

ive been readin Burts and this forum ever since i bought my 02 right off the showroom floor. And i dont understand something. Everyone in here has done the carb mods to achieve better performance. I bought a Supertrapp,using 8 disks, and a K@N air filter. Thats about it! I changed to a iridium spark plug also. (which by the way seems to have made quite a difference in the performance of my bike.)

My Supertrapp manual says jetting of the carb isnt neccesary. that the adding and removing of disks will take care of that. My exhaust after 15,000 miles still has no bluing what so ever. It never backfires, has a nice deep throaty rumble, and at 75 its just humming along, no strain at all. The Supertraapp hs started to turn a slight golden color however due to it being single walled or so the manual says. I think this is the case with the Jardine too, no matter how you jet it. My question is, will I still achieve better performance by rejetting, or should I just leave it alone. Its important to me cause on May 10th, Im leaving Portland Oregon for a 3 month trip of the states, ending up in Virginia to tour some civil war battlefields and see whatever there is to see along the way. A very long trip for a little Savage, and I want it running the best it can. I just dont know if I should just leave well enough alone or if the $250 for the jets and dyno tune is worth it . By the way, Ill be traveling thru Idaho, Wyoming, up into Montana to tour Custers Battlfield and then back down to Kansas where we have to be at a wedding on May20th. From that point on, we have no particular route to back east. Just gonna follow the sun as they say. Plan on taking my digital, and my traveling buddy is taking his lap top along, so I hope to be able to meet a few of you along the way and take some pics and post in here. Ill buy lunch and you can point out some cool things to see maybe. Sorry about the rambling but Im like that little kid in the Disney commercial that says" I cant sleeeep, Im toooooooo excited!!"
This is my email address, chriss@cascadeaccess.com. Email me if youd like a free lunch!!
(oh yeah, any suggestions on the carb mods)?

Title: Re: cross country trip
Post by 911radioman on 05/01/06 at 03:24:27

I'm gonna stick my neck out here and say if your bike is running and performing well, and your spark plug doesn't show any signs of running lean, I'd leave it well enough alone.

The last thing I'd want to do is start tinkering with it at this stage of the game when you're about to embark on a long trip. But that's me...

It could be that you're running enough disks that you really haven't altered the overall air flow of the exhaust system the way yours is set up, I don't know. I know that on mine, by adding the MAC muffler, the K&N filter and rejetting, I realized a huge performance gain.

Seems as though there is a pretty good debate among some about whether rejetting is necessary or not across the various motorcycle forums. For me, it has been a good thing and hasn't negatively impacted the performance and economy of the bike, so I'm glad I listened to those in the know here on the forum.

BTW, you gonna be swinging through the Louisville, KY area on your trip?

Title: Re: cross country trip
Post by lancer on 05/01/06 at 04:44:27

There are many things that can be done to change the performance of a carb, but for now let's just stick to the basic 3...low range (pilot jet), mid range (needle), and high range (main jet). You have said that you have no backfiring at all, which would indicate that your pilot system is running at the proper air/fuel ratio already and needs no change of the jet. A simple check of the pilot adjusting screw would show if it is idealy adjusted.

For the midrange, you will realize an improvement in power by shaving the white spacer to half of its length, or installing tiny washers of an equivalent thickness. Assuming everything else is working properly, this will improve midrange performance. You might use the washers for this adjustment to give yourself assurance that if you wish to return to the stock setting the white spacer is still intact.

For the high range, you could get the next size up for the main jet, put it in and go for a test ride to see if your engine likes it. No dyno needed. If the engine pulls stronger in the 3/4 to full throttle range then it is a go. If it bogs down in that range then it is too much and you just put the original main jet back in. It only cost you $3, a little time, and you learned something about your bike.

I have not mentioned your exhaust yet. Since you have a Supertrapp you can tune the engine somewhat using the discs. You said you are using 8 discs and no backfiring, and that you have a K&N filter...the flat type in the stock air box?? That will help air flow over the stock filter. So, you have a little more air moving through the engine than before, but the 8 discs are keeping enough of a backpressure in the system so that there is no backfiring. An easy test is to remove one disc at a time and do a test drive to see how the engine responds. I think you will find that there is more power/performance waiting to get out.
This will get more involved since removing more than 1 disc may now require readjustment of the carb &/or jetting changes. If that is something you do not want to do yourself then the alternative is the dyno.

**Alternative: DYNO

You are going on a 3 month X-country trip on your bike, and probably carrying some stuff with you so the bike will be pushing extra weight everyday/allday. If you do not want to do a full rejet/tuning job on your bike I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you find a good dyno jocky to do it for you, it will be well worth the money to have a fully performing bike. A dyno tune-up will enable your engine to function most efficiently, and an efficient running engine does not work as hard to get the job done...and that means less strain on the engine. The extra power released as a result will also make riding more fun for you.

Just some thoughts to consider.

Title: Re: cross country trip
Post by Dynobob on 05/01/06 at 10:59:09

I added a Supertrapp to my '03 and rejetted it according to the instructions posted here. It runs excellent and gets very good gas mileage (52). I would venture to say that with a Supertrapp and a K&N, your bike should be running very lean. You haven't mentioned the altitude where you live. High altitude and warm temperatures makes your jetting richer. The cost of rejetting yourself is minimal - a main jet from the dealer and some stainless steel allen heads from the hardware store.

I found the stock '03 waaaay to lean. It will only get leaner after adding aftermarket exhaust and a K&N. Do a plug reading to be sure.

http://www.motorcyclecarbs.com/Plugreadings_W44.cfm